Kenneth Wong

Third-generation owner, Kowloon Soy Co Ltd (Mee Chun Canning Co Ltd).

We’re sitting in Kowloon Soy Co Ltd’s last remaining store, a dingy shop behind the market on Graham Street in Central. Bottles are lined against the wall above massive glass urns filled with preserved fruit and sauces. If the last store standing is indicative of anything, it is that history matters more than money to third-generation owner Kenneth Wong.

Financially, it makes no sense to keep the store open. Local retail accounts for a mere 10 per cent of business for the family; the other 90 per cent is focused on exports, mainly to Europe and the UK, but also to South America, Southeast Asia and Australia.